USGF News - December 1973 by USA Gymnastics

De c ember

NEWS _ Offic ial Publi cation of th J~lJnite~ States Gymnastics Federation P.O. Box 4699 Tucson, Arizona 85717 U.S.A.

'.I.I ( I J

wishes the

Gymnasts of the World

Merry Christmas

AND

Happy New Year

Buon Natale

Buon Anno

Frohe W eihnachten

Gliickliches Neves Jahr

Feliz Navidad

Prosper Ano N uevo

Joyeux Noel

Frank Cumiskey & Frank Bare

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Exec utive Offi ces: P. 0 . Box 4699, Tucson, Ari zona 857 17 (602) 622-3865

EDITORIAL:

Cable Add ress " USGYM"

1973

Editorial: The 197 3 USGF Congress and the subsequent FIG Congress are now history. The FIG President's report is included in t his issue of the USG F NEWS. The USA was represented by it's first entries in t he World's Championships in Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics, which was held in Rotterdam in conjunction with the FIG Congress. We did not field a complete team, but this was a great step towards that goal and is a personal tribute to Mrs. Mildred Prchal for years of dedication to develop this new part of the sport of gymnastics in the U.S.A. As this edition of the USG F News is going to press we have gymnasts in Japan, and South Africa for annual events in those two nations. The international calendar, at least as it applies to the best gymnasts in the country, is becoming quite crowded. It is increasingly more difficult to schedule events both nationally and internationally, without conflicting with dates for some ot her event. We Âˇ are just around the corner from 1974 and the World Championships, and then it will be only a matter of months until the Olympic Games in Montreal are close at hand. The selection methods and trial dates and sites, all must be firmed up and planning must move ahead quickly now, since we wish to select our teams and give t hem every opportunity for training and preparation as soon as practical. The USGF Council meets while this edition is being printed and they will be concerned with total program and growth and development of the national office and the sport. President Gordon Chalmers will be going out of office after four years as an excellent President and friend of gymnastics. Gordon was an Olympic swimmer in 1932 and is a member of the USOC Board of Directors for the USG F, a position we hope to keep for him if he will retain it. The national office staff wishes to express our deep appreciation for his efforts during the past four years and wish him well. Although gymnast ics remains a relatively small sport, we certainly stand higher in the eyes of America than ever before . It is a tribute to the coaches, gymnasts, judges and others involved actively in the sport. If, and it remains a very big if, we can field a more improved team for men and women in Varna in October of 1974, we might well have turned the ' corner on the international scene and we will then witness an even greater period of growth than the past three years have shown. With a common goal and purpose, perhaps it can be accomplished, it is however, a most difficult road to travel. Best wishes to everyone for a Âˇ ~~ /.,/;/~ Happy Holiday season. Happy 1974!

Frank L. Bare Executive Director USGF

The highly successfu l 9th Annual USG F Coaches Congress was held November 2, 3, & 4, 1973 at the St. Louis Marriot Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri . There were over 250 preregistrants which swe lled to 380 at the Banquet on Friday evening and to over 400 by Saturdays morning General Assemb ly. Friday started bright and early with a series of Women's Committee meetings which included:

USG F with vigor and success for four years. Mr. Bud Palmer was the guest speaker and gave an interesti nq and humorous talk on his experiences in television. Mr. Jerry Todd presented the NGJA Area awards for judging and Mr. Cumiskey presented Jer ry with the Western Award for judging and Jerry Todd was also inducted into the Judges Hall of Fame along with Mr. Fred Meyer. Saturday morning dawned bright and early (possibly too early for some) with a breakfast provided by Walter Zwickel at 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 8:00 a. m. and the General Assembly was USGFWC Technical Committee convened at 9:00 a.m. Frank Bare gave Chairman: J. Fie the USGF Annual Report and the (Regional Chairmen invited to attend) International report to the members. He · 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. spoke about the Bills in Congress USGF-DGWS Modern Rhythmic concerning Sports, the Ru ss ian, Chinese, Gymnastics Committee Hungarian, Rumanian and French Tours, Chairman: S. Bryan the Directors Committee of FIG which he is a member of and many other items of 1 :00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. interest to all . An excellent r eport of the USGF-DGWS Gymnastics World University Games was presented by Certification Committee Greta Trieber, Kathy Shelly and Jim Chairman: S. Bryan Howard. Mr . Howard showed films on the 3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m . finals also. Excellent reports of the USGFWC RC, RTD, STD Workshop Olympic meetings of Friday were given Cha irman : S. Bryan by Mrs. Bryan and Mr. Meade. Mrs. Bryan 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p .m . also gave a report on the USG F Womens USGFWC Executive Committee Committee. The morning ended with a Chairman: S. Bryan report on Canadian activities by Cal The Women's and Men's Olympic Girard and Tom Kinsman . After lunch until after 10 :00 p.m .. as Committees had their first meeting of the many as four meetings at a time were in new Committees. Th e meetings were very progress, one of the finest meetings w as successful and Mrs . Shirley Bryan and Mr. the presentation by the USG F William Meade were elected to chair their Task Force . The respective committees thru 1976. One of Biomechanical presentation was stimulating and Dr. the most important decisions taken was Gerry George, the Director of the Task the collaboration of the both committees in requesting funds from the Olympic . Force was roundly congratu lated as were Development Committee . Since tours and the other speakers . The speakers and Championships abroad and at home sub jects are listed . involves both Men & Women this was a 1 :00-3 :00 p.m . U.S.G .F. BIOMECHANICAL TASK wise decision and the committees are to FORCE PRESENTATION be congratulated. On Friday at 7: 00 p.m. the get together Cock ta i I party sponsored by Nisse n and American Equipment Companies was held . 380 people swarming around like bees talking about gymnastics was a sight to behold. The hour sped by' and on to the banquet. After a delicious mea l, Frank Bare opened the festivities with a we lcome to all and an introduction of the people at the head table . We were fortunate to have our President Mr. Gordon Chalmers and his wife present . President Chalmers is leaving in December after ser vin g the

Director Gerald George 1:00-1 : 15p.m . Dr. Gerald F . Calkin, Eastern Kentucky University Topic - "Mech anical An aly sis of Human Motior;i - What it can Tell Us" 1 :15-1 :30 p.m . Ms. Kitty Kjeldsen, University of Massachusetts Topic "Application of the Elevator Principles to Vaulting and Aer ial Tumbling" 1 :30-1 :45 p.m.

Dr. George S. George, Old Dominion University Topic - " Comparative Analysis of Five Selected Vaulting Boards" 1 :45-2 :00 p .m . Dr. James Hay, Un iversity of Iowa of Topic "Biomechanics Vaulting" 2:00-2:15 p.m . Mr. Tom Ecker, Cedar Rapids School System Topic - "Rotational Concepts in Gymna stics" 2:15-2:30 p.m. Dr . Patrick J. Bird, University of Virgini a Topic - "Mechanics of Twi sting in Gymnastics" 2:30-2:45 p .m. Mr. George Hery, Nissen Corporation Topic - "Mechanical Analysis of Somersaulting, Twisting, and Somersaulting while Twisting" 2:45-3:00 p.m. Dr. Arno Lascari, University of British Columbia Topic _ "The Early vs . Late Drop Technique on Paral lel Bars" With over 400 people at the Congress, all meetings were well attended all afternoon; and in the evening 4 large meetings were in progress, Womens Roundtable discussion on Judging and Coaching Techniques, The Independent Gymnastic Clubs with President Graham Bartlett, (they now have 190 members) the National High School Gymnastics Coaches Association an d after the USGF Mens Technical Committee meeting, the NGJA meeting. All in all a whirlwind of activ ity, with undoubtedly the most gymnastics inter-related business ever conducted in one day . On Sunday morning three important meetings, The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics coaches, the USG F Womens Committee Business Meeting and the final meeting of the Independent clubs were conducted leading to the final General Assembly meeting. The most successfu l Congress the n ended with the Congress scheduled for Denver next year which promises to be bigger and better.

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t-IG CONGRESS

Rotterdam, Holland November 1973 Summary of Decisions, Technical Regulations and Agenda Items pertaining to Women's Gymnastics as recorded during Technical Assembly for Women, General Assembly, and other meetings. Submitted by: Mrs. Jackie Fie, USA Technica l Delegate

I. Nations present during TA for Women: 29 Australia - No West Germany Austria Brazil - No Belgium Bulgaria Canada Republic of Korea Cuba - No Denmark Spain USA South Africa Finland France Great Britain Hungary Israel Ita ly Japan

Lu xemb urg Norway New Zealand- No Holland Poland- No Portugal East Germany Rumania Sweden Switzerland Czechoslovakia Yugoslavia Tunisia Russia Turkey- No

II. European Championships -1973 A. Organization was excellent in particular the welcome for participants, transport of all officials and contestants, immedi ate avai lability of scores for trainers, facilities, and hospitality. B. Technical level was lower than desirable, since Federations sent young gymnasts for reasons of experience. The TC recommends once more that . each Federation send at least one gymnast of exce llent value. C. Individual Events 1. Vault There were too many Yamashitas and too few vaults with twisting. Hopefully new vaulting regulations will aid development of vaulting. 2. Uneven Bars The difficulties were very good, but the execution was not, as indicated by two many falls. Generally speaking the technical level was not high.

Jackie Fie

4. Individuals must also attain an 3. Balance Beam 8.5 average . There were far too many falls (more than 20 out of 42 5. The TC would select teams and gymnasts) due to too many groups of individuals based on difficulties. The originality and qualification scores to equal 8 the connections were not of a groups of 6 gymnasts. high level. The elegance and 6. At teach qua I ification general impression were competition, the judges must be adversely affected as a result of divided as follow s: too many difficulties and falls. 1 Judge from TC-Head Judge 2 Neutral Judges 4. Floor Exercise 1 Judge from each country Generally speaking there was not enough high difficulty in 7. If there are not 8 groups or teams above 8.50 average, then twising with only 1 double the TC may lower the score to twisting movement exhibited. 8.00. A lack of harmony between D . The Technical Assembly accepted music and movement existed due to use of modern musical proposal by 18-11 vote . *E. The General Assembly amended selections. The height of the by vote of 25-1 that decision by leaps and jumps was insufficient accepting the following: and overall the floor exercise (Based on a philosophy that each FIG was at a low level. member Federation should be ab le to Ill. World Championships in Varna 1974 A. At Madrid the FIG stated there have one or a few competitors of quality) *1. December 15 would be deadline would be no qua I ifications. The FIG sent for Bulgaria to answer whether a letter to all Federations asking that this it can assure visas to Israe l and decision is cancelled. The majority of South Africa, the answer which Federations answered "No". The TC might necessitate a new site for stated that the competition must be one the World Games. at a World class level and not one of * 2. A qualification score of 8.0 disgrace. would be used as the criteria for B. Bulgaria has stated it can not accept qua lification, so that there more than 24 teams for women and the would be more oppourtunity for TC wishes to accommodate the Bulgarian participation by Federations and Federation. yet maintenance of a quality C. The TC recommends the following competition. only for the World Championships in Bulgaria: IV. Olympic Games- the IOC is the final 1. Sixteen best teams from Munich authority in all matters of Olympic be automatica lly accepted. Games Competition. 2. For other 8 teams there must be *A. The Committee of Directors has competitions am·ong themselves met on several occasions with the IOC with one or several Federations and was told that all sports would be taking part. allowed only 12 full teams. Additionally 3. If there are to be 6 on a team, at the IOC will allow 4 groups of individuals least 3 members must attain on (24) because of the special nature of this · 8.50 average. · sport.

B. The Women's TA voted 11 for and 18 against this proposal. C. The General Assembly supported the Committee of Directors with a 21 to 15 vote. *D. The Committee of Directors with the IOC recommended that only the 3 best gymnasts from each country would be eligible to take part in the multiple {all around) competition number 2 and that only the 2 best from each country would be allowed in the finals, competition number 3. E. The Women's TA voted in support of this proposal 19-10. F. The G.A. voted in favor of Committee of Directors proposal by 27-10. IV. The New Beam European A. In London at Championships the reserve gymnasts were given the opportunity to work on a "new" beam with "soft smooth leather like" covering. B. The TC recommends that the "new" beam with "soft smooth leather like covering~' be adopted for Varna 1974 for these reasons. 1. The majority of reserve gymnasts of Federations at London preferred this model over the previous experimental mode l covered by "carpet like" material. 2. It has been decided for a long time to use the "elastic" beam and the new decision is only to use a beam with a "new" cover of smooth material instead of the carpet material. C. After much discussion on behalf of those countries without the advantage of the exper imental beam, the lack of spec ifications , and the shortness of time, a vote was taken. The vote was 21 against and 8 in fa vor of the "new" beam for 1974 World Championships. *D. Therefore, t he current wood beam with no co ver or pad will be off icia l for World Champion ships in Varna 1974. New specifications are be ing written and will be available to the Federations by December 24, 1973. *E. The wood beam without pad or cover will be the official beam specificatio n for all international competitions until the European Championships for Women in Norway, fa ll of 1975. V. Courses for Judges A. The TC has prepared a Judging for FIG Intercontinental, Guide Continental, and National Judges Courses which shou ld serve to educate the judges for the examinations .

B. It would be finished and available by the latest March 1974. C. Permission for a National FIG course in the summer of 1974 was granted to USA under the direction of Mrs. Jackie Fie. VI. New Technical Regulations for Varna 1974 Refer to Bulletin Fig. No. 3, 1973 September, pages 79-82. A. Vaults 1. All vault eva luations as appear on pages 79 and 80 will be followed . 2. Prescription s for final competition in vault will app ly as on page 80. 3. Change: Of the 12 vaults executed by each team, no more than 6 may be the same. B. Uneven Bars 1. Regulations on pages 80-81 will be fol lowed with these exceptions : a. Dismount w ith push off from feet in . erect stand , squat or stradd le stand from LB or H B is not accepted and will be penalized by 0.4 point. b. Dismount from so le circle with impetus from feet will be a medium difficu lty with no penalty, provided that a vertical position is not achieved before push off. c. A jump to handstand on HB from a squat or stand on the LB will be medium . If followed by a 'h or more pirouette into another element, the combination will be superior. d . All other movements remain as in present code, including LB handstands, as superiors. C. Balance Beam All regulations on page 81 will be followed with the exception of the tuck salto which is as follows: 1. The responsibility for 1niury must be accepted by the Federation . 2. A stop before or after will be penalized by 0.2 each time . 3. The FIG TC feels this exercise is not characteristic of movements on the beam. Lack of amplitude and technical faults in execution will be penalized . 4. The TC proposes the question of this element be studied by the FIG International Sports Medic ine Commission. D. Floor Exercise 1. Regu lations will be followed as on page 81 of Bulletin No. 3 and

page 45 of Bulletin No. 2. E. New Scoring as in Article No . 7 FIG Code for Optional Exercise on Bars, Beam , and Floor. 1. The point breakdown of 5 for difficulty, 2 for origina li ty and compos ition , 2 for execution and am plitude, and 1 for genera l impression will be followed . 2. All optionals must exhibit 3 superior and 4 medium difficulties. Each exercise must, therefore, include at least 7 elements . A Superior may be substituted for 1 medium element. There will be difficulty penalties for lack of the minimum 7 elements- 3 superior and 4 mediums. For substitut ion of medium elements with superior elements {such as 6 superiors and 1 medium or 7 superior and 0 mediums). there will be no compositional penalties unless the connections suffer as a result. F. All other exist in g regulations remain as is. VI I . New Code of Points and Classification of Difficulties for 1975 A . After Varna near the end of 1974 a new code will be published to be effective in 1975. B. The 10 point distribution for optionals will be as follows: a. 4 points difficulty 3 Superiors - .8 each = 2.40 4 Mediums - .4 each = 1.60 Total 4.00 2.0 Originality & Composition 3.0 Amp litude & Execution 1.0 Genera l Impression VI II. New Compulsory Exercises for 1976 Olympic Games A. The TC voted in fa vor of accept ing the old compu lsory format of set exercises for the Olympic Games. B. The TC will compose these them to the exercises and send Federat ions in June 1974 for use in the Olympic Games. The film will be sent as soon as possible after the exercises. IX. Miscellaneous Decisions on Proposals A . In Varna, the horse will be set at 110 CM & 120 CM for experimenta l use by the Federations in order to investigate the possibility of raising the official height . B. The Team Leader for women's competitions must be a women . C. The reserve gymnast may not replace an injured gymnast once the competitio n has begun.

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D. Only 5 scores in each event will count for team score as in the past. E. Eleven new brevets were conferred Âˇ none from USA . ' F. Candidatures: European Championships Men Switzerl and 1975 European Championships for Women - Norway 1975 Modern Rhythmic Gymnast ic Championships - Spain 1976 Establishment of African Cup with same regulations as European Championships under supervision of WTC of FIG. X. Comm ittee for Universal Gymn astic Terminology was established for Engl ish speaking countries of: South Africa Philippines New Zea land Sweden Australia Norway England Denma rk Canada Finland USA Israel Chairman: Mrs . Jackie Fie, USA Note: All aforementioned technica l rules listed in Part VI will be effective for all USG F elite competitions during 1974 beg inning with the January qualification meet. The USGF Jun ior and Senior National Championships wi ll also app ly these regulations: 1. The tuck back som ie on beams must be rigidly penalized for lack of amplitude, stops before and after, and landing position. 2. The 2 points for ampl itude and execution will necessitate a s lightly more lenient penalizat ion of faults in these categories.

Frank Cumiskey

Meeting of the Technical Assembly for Men November 12, 1973 Rotterdam, Holland - 8:45 A.M. U.S. Techn ical Representative Frank J. Cumiskey 1. The meeting was called to order by the Pres ident Mr. lvancevich. He welcomed all the delegates and observed a moment of silence for the departed FIG members. 2. The roll call was then made and the voting card given to the representative of each country, there were 36 countries answering the roll call. 3.President lvancevich next gave his report as published in the FIG Bulletin No. 3, 1973.

Report of the President of th e Men's Technical Committee (MTC) Th e mandate of the present MTC, the Committee constituted at th e congress held on 22nd August 1972 in Munich , offi cially commenced on 1st January 1973, but the necessary powers were actual ly accorded at Stuttgart on 27th January 1973. On the occasion of this meeting, Mr. Kar l-He inz Zschocke was elected secretary of t he com mittee. This report covers the period between the 51st Congress held in .1972 and th e end of June 1973.

a) 1972 Olympics Games in Munich The year 1972 was under the motto of the Olympic Games in Munich. After thi;l 1968 Games in Mexico and t he 1970 World Championships, we thought that the evolution of artistic gymnastics had more or less attained its limit. But the Games in Munich convinced us otherwise. Internationa l artistic gymnastics have made yet another enorm ous step forward . New elements and or ig inal connections appeared at all th e apparatus. Moreover, origina l and very risky dismounts of transcen dent al virtuo sity were enthusiastica lly app lauded by spectators, judges and tech nici ans alike. However, in sp ite of these positive aspects, we still deplore a certa in degree of monotony at some apparatus, above all on the rings, especial ly with regard to the start and the dismount and, very pronouncedly, in the f loor exe rcise. In Munich , we had a magnificent gymnasium with t he most perfect apparatu s and in sta ll atio ns, as well as exce ll ent organization with a co mpu ting office and a secretari at that was a model of effic iency.

The scoring during these Games was good throughout. There were absolutely no complaints. In our opinion, the programme for the competitions was overloaded for the gymnasts . As an example, we recal I that, in ord er t o obtain a medal in the multiple compet it io n, a gymnast was obi igated to take part in competition No. 1 ( 12 parts) as well as in competition No. 2 (6 parts) that is a total of 18 pa rts! What is more, the finals might also have demanded up to 6 fresh participations (competition No. 3), that is to say, an overall total of 18-24 parts. These competitions made enormous physical and psychological demands on the individual gymnast. This question will have to be exam in ed by both our Medical Commission and by our own MTC. Our thanks are due to all the responsible technicians, to the organizatory committee and to the gymnastics federation of the German Federal Republ ic for their contribution to the success of this re markabl e gymnastics manifestation. b) 1973 European Championships in Grenoble Grenob le, the large and attractive capital of the French Alps, organ ized these Europea n Cham pionshi ps - the 10th ind ivi dua l men's gymnastic Championships, held on Saturday and Sunday , 12th and 13th May 1973. In the vast Sports Arena, we witnessed a truly magn ifi cent technical spectacle that proved what tremendous progress art istic gymnastics have recent ly made in Europe. We also noted with pleasure that the d istribution of the medals was much less foreseeable than has previously been the case. In effect, 7 of the 20 nations part icipating won medals. The scoring was good throughout. Two complaints were lodged. T he Jury of Appeal met and refused both com plaints after having exa min ed the points which they found to be absolutely within the framework of our. regulations. 54 gymnasts from 20 European countries part ici pated in these competitions. There was no ser ious accident during the competitions. Apart from a lack of tautness in the of this ogranizat ion of an event magnitude and certain delays, the compet it ions went off quite norma ll y. The duty secretariat and the computing off ice, in particular, function ed very satisfactor ily. We shoul d like to take th is opportunity of thank ing the Organi zatory Committee and the French Gymnastics Federation for their valu able contribution to the success of thi s important European event .

c) Judges' Courses The following courses were held during the period between September 1972 and end of June 1973: 1. At Beyrouth, from 5th·8th September 1972, for the federations in the Arab world. 2. In Algiers, from 25th-28th June 1973, for the federations of the We are most grateful to the organizers of these courses, to the organizing federations and also to those federations who despatched participants. All these people helped to support.our efforts. d) Trainers' course Only one course was held , from 19th 24th June 1973, a lso in Algiers, for the federations of the Grand Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunesia) . We should also like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this course. By helping train trainers, they have helped to promote gymnastics in this part of Africa.

e) Propaganda tour in Brazil This magnificent tour took place between 14th and 26th May 1973. The gymnasts numbered fourteen girls and sixteen boys. Demonstrations took place as follows: 2 demonstrations Rio de Janeiro Porto Alegre 2 demonstrations Sao Pao lo 2 demonstrations Belo Horizonte 1 demonstrations Brasilia 1 demonstration The technical success of this tour can only be described as outstanding. The gymnasts distinguished themselves through exemplary behaviour and discipline. In spite of the fatigue involved the very long journeys, the in performances were excel lent and they harvested a spectacular success. This augurs well for the development of gymnastics in this part of Latin America as well as for the realization of a project to ho)d a trainers' course in this country. f) Meetings

During the 3 meetings it has held, the MTC has dealt with various technical problems, among which were work methods, various competitions, obligatory exercises, Code of Points, symposium for men judges, age of competitors, courses, technical regulations, standardization of competition apparatus, etc. At the meeting held in May 1973 in Grenoble, Mr. Andre Huguenin , Switzerland, was made available to us as an interpreter in the place of Mr. Pierre Hentges jun. who retired on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Munich.

Many problems are being stud ied a nd many projects are in the process of realization and the Men's Technica l Committee devotes its time and its energies to the development of artistic gymnastics. In my capacity as president of the MTC, I should like to express my most sincere gratitude to my collaborators on the Committee, my satisfaction to the Women's Technical Committee about their collaboration and also my recognition to the FIG Executive Committee for its unfailing understanding and support . A special *thank you * is addressed to the president, Mr. Arthur Gander, whose support and advice are always most valuable in all circumstances. Having reached the end of th is, my first report, it is my special privilege to pay homage to our former president of the MTC whose exceptional merits and outstanding servi ce to the FIG cannot be encompassed in a few brief words. His purely technica l contribution was enormous, considering that he was behind all the important projects realized by the FIG during recent d ecades. President of the MTC for 8 years and prime mover behind technical matters for a long time before that, Mr. Gander's tremendou s contribution on all fronts cannot possibly be itemized. But for all he has done he has our grateful thanks and we hope that his shining example will continue to guide us for a long time yet! To President of the MTC/FIG: Ivan Ivancevic The Report was accepted as published. Mr. Zschocke, secretary of the Technical Committee, declared that there were 36 delegates present, 19 was an absolute majority and 25 was a 2/3rds majority for voting purposes. 4. The Minutes of the last meeting in Munich as published in the FIG Bulletin No. 1 were approved. 5.a. Olympic Games 1972. Reports indicated that the Games were conducted perfectly and the gymnasts performed well. The observation was made that it may be too strenuous for those gymnasts who after doing the team Compulsory and optionals and then the optionals again. for the all-around and then the Finals. Some of the favored one"s in the finals failed and it was felt that the emotional strain and the physical may have been too much. • b. European Championships at Grenoble for Men. Belgium complained that in their case with

3 individuals, each gymnast was competing in a d ifferent event and the coach had to run around the floor spotting and coaching. Mr. lvancevich stated that this was an oddity caused by the draw. c. Propaganda tour to Brazil. Mr. Lylo reported how well the tour was conducted with over 135,000 people seeing the gymansts. Under e Mr. lvancevich stated some more facts in his report. Mr. Fisher of Brazil expressed his thanks for the cooperation of al I Federations for making the tour a success. 6. Mr. lvancevich in his report listed the judges courses under c, further , information disclosed that 15 passed at Beirut, 9 at Teheran, 60 at Algiers and 14 in Israel. Any quest ions concerning Judges Courses by the members should be referred to Mr. lvancevich and Coaches courses to Mr. Lylo. 7.Judging Symposium in Madrid. Mr. lvancevich stated that Spain, Russia a nd the United States have given their · contribution (which can be added to by December 31 ). Mr. Thoresson stated that we should have time for questions today but Mr. lvancevich said there would be no questions today as there was ample opportunity in Madrid for questions . 8. Coaches Courses. In addition to the course mentioned in the Presidents report, d., There were courses in July in Spain, and there will be course in Austria, December, and in Brasi lia and in Spain in 1974. 9. World Games 1974. a. On page 76 under h. change the opening ceremony date to Sunday October 20 and advance by one day each of the following dates. (FIG Bu ll etin No. 3) b. Qualification. There followed a lengthy discussion of at least 2 hours and more. Mr . lvancevich asking "What do we want to achieve, a show of the World Champions or just anybody." The Technical committee had taken the stand that there should be qua Iifications as in Munich and that this could be the method. The 16 teams who scored 510 points in Munich would automatically qualify for the World Games and since Bulgaria says that they can only accept 24 teams that would leave an additional 8 teams or groups to be added .. Therefore the term could be, performance level, set at 8.5 for the remaining instead of qualification.

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M. IVAN IVANCEVIC

finalists, there will be a limit of three gymnasts from any one country and in the fin a ls, of the six on each event, only two gymnasts from any one country will be al lowed. Every country opposed such reasoning, Russia was especially against it say ing "We never saw a man thrown off . the field for scoring too many field goa ls, it is a si lly rule, it co uld be at least 4 in Comp. 2 a nd 3 in Competition 3. This discussion was also referred to the General Assembly t he following day. 11. Problems concerning apparatus. - A new book is being written for Men & Women . It will be issued before the Olympic Games in good time. Unable to give specific details, some dimensions will be changed and others are st ill being . discussed. The W. German delegate said th at the Technical Committee shou ld work closely with the International Standardization organization so that the specification s are listed so that all companies in the world could manufacture and se ll the equipment. Mr. lvancevich said this is being done. 12. Proposals made by federations Australia proposed an ability level competition, having a World Games for the top countries o r A Group and another Wor ld Games fo r weaker or B countries. He claimed th at every country could then compete , it would be eas ier on judges. There followed much d iscussion and since the whole question of qualification had been put over for the General Assembly, this question should be taken in turn a lso . Final ly Aust ra lia agreed to bring it up at the next congress. All proposa ls concerning changes in the Code of Points were tab led and referred to the Technical Committee to consider when writing the new Code . Egypt proposed the AFRICA CUP Una nimous Agreement . Spain proposed the mats as used in Munich against the 20 cm mat adopted in Munich for the .Horizontal Bar and Vaulting . After much discussion the 20cm mat is elimianted

Mr . Ivancevich then asked if the delegates agreed with the Technical Committee. Portugal, Israel, W. Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, Russia and the U.S. spoke for an open competition with no qualifications. East Germany supported the fact that Bulgaria had technica l problems and asked if there couldn't be a compromise. Israel said that the competition should not have been awarded to Bulgaria if they couldn't accommodate the Munich vote of an open competition. Mr. lvancevich said that the World Games should show the cream of the ath letes as a ll other sports do. We have other competitions they can go to. In years past weak gymnasts performed with high class gymnasts and the public laughed, do we want that, even the judges laughed . If the countries want to learn they can send coaches and come as spectators. What is better - to show World Class gymnasts before the television or poor gymnasts which would 路 hurt the sport . We were good in Munich- AND~ - 6f::M MATS ARE ADOPTED FOR THE should we allow poor performances now Horizontal Bar and Vaulting . Hungarian proposal b. Permission to to hurt us and erase the Munich popularity . I have great respect for your use reserve gymnast when an injury opinion but in all other sports they occurs was discussed and rejected 18 to 9. Yugoslavia a . Floor Exercise with present their best ath letes, why shou ld our sport be different . The question was music was rejected 19 to 10. All other proposals were either held over unti I the General Assembly, to all ow the 路de legate from Bulgaria to 路 refer red to the Study Commission for the communicate with his Federation on the Code of Points or put over to the General Assembly the ne xt day . A new Technical limit of 24 teams. 10. Program of the Olympic Games Regu lat ion book has been completed Montreal 1976. - There will only be 12 covering Artistic Gymnastics Men & complete teams plus 4 groups composed Women as well as Modern Gymnastics. The meeting was adjourned after 9 of individu als from other countries . Competition 2 for the 36 All -Around hours with no lunch period.

SHIRLEY BRYAN William Meade, Southern Illinois gymnastics coach and Mrs. Shirley Bryan, Chicago , have been elected chairmen of the Olympic men's and women's gymna.s tics committees, according to an announcement by Philip 0 . Krumm, Kenosha, president of the United States Olympic Committee. A vice president of the United States Gymnastics Federation and chairman of the gymnastics committee of the U.S . Collegiate Sports Council, Meade had previously served as manager of the 1968 路 Olympic gymnastics team. At Pennsylvania State University he reigned as a two-time Eastern Interco ll egiate tumbling champion. Shirley Bryans hold s degr ees from Southeast Misso uri State College and Washington Unive rsit y of St . Louis. She is cha irman of the women's committee of the USGF a nd is serving for the second time on t he Olympic women's gymnastics committee. Secretary of t he men's gymnastics comm ittee is Lt . Col. Karl K. Schwe nzfeier, USAF, gymnasti cs coach at the U.S. A ir Force Academy. A native of Ph iladelphia and a graduate of Pe nnsylvania State University, Col. Schwen zfe ier was a member of the 1956 Olympic Tea m. In 1955 he made a clean sweep of th.e al I-around titles in the Eastern Intercollegiate, NCAA and National AAU champi onships. Eugene Wettstone, Penn State gymnastics coach, is vice-chairman of the men's committee . Long identified with the sport in important administrative posts for the NCAA and AAU, Mr . Wettstone also was head coach of the olympic teams in 1948 and 1956. His Nittany Lion gymnasts have accounted for 16 Eastern Intercollegiate team titles, eight NCAA team championships and three National AAU team diadems. Mrs. Sharon K. Weber, physical education teach and gymnastics coach at the Lakewood (Colo.) high school , was se lected secretary for the women's committee. She is a graduate of Ohio State University and holds a Iicense as an international gymnastics judge.

PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1972/73 Presented By President Gander at the 52nd Congress, In Rotterdam, November 13, 1973 The Olympic Games are a lways fo ll owed by a period of "assimilation" and med itatio n among the nat iona l and international federations. This was the climate prevai li ng at the f irst meeting he ld by the newly e lected FIG authorities at the end of January. Actually, this new term of office commenced with a meeting of t he two technical committees at the end of January and that of the Executive Committee at the beg inning of February . The techn ica l comm ittees met under the cha irmanship of the ir new presidents. The numerous problems ra ised here ob liged all ou r lead ing author it ies to meet anew in a joint session that too k place at Stuttgart on t he occasion of the West Ge rm an gymnastics fe stival. It must be ad d ed t hat a presidenti al session com pr ising t he President , th e s Âˇe cretary-Genera l and th e two Preside nts of the T echnical Comm itt ees met to study th e irrevoca ble modification s made in the gym anstics programme fo r the Olympic Games in Montreal, imposed by the IOC. Th ese measures are taken within the framework of the combatting of gianti sm. On 1st May 1973, we were finally able to open our permanet Gene ral Secretariat at Lyss, in Switzerland; this is both large and well laid out . Endowed with practical and functional equipment, the General Secretariat is now in a position to facilitate our work and promote our diverse activit ies and, in a manner of speaking, it constitutes the "home" for which we have been waiting for such a long time . On 26th April, we received news of the sudden death of our honorary President, Mr. Charles Thoeni, of Geneva, at the age of 8.7. On the occasion of his . funeral which took place on 1st May, the under-signed rendered homage to the deceased in his funeral oration, and discoursed upon the tremendous services rendered by Mr . Thoeni to the cause of gymnastics in general and on his fruitful activity within the FIG in particular. In its own name and on behalf of all those who were close to Charles Thoeni, the FIG would like to thank all the members of the authorities and federations who ;;ent tokens of sympathy. We should also like to thank Mrs. Villancher for her presence as a representative of the French Federation and, at the same time, as a former and distinguished collaborator of

Manifestations and Competitions The administrat ive year commencec 1 after the 51 st Congress, with the 2 0tl Olympic Games in Mun ich. T hese Game. proved an extraordinary success for ou1 Artistic Gymnastics from the point o1 view of performance, organization and the number of spectators . If we add the enormous popularity invo lved in the retransmission by television all o ver the world, we can speak of an unparalleled , propaganda campaign on behalf of our ~use_, __9!:1d t)l~ is pa r tic_u@rlv _ gratif~o'! for the FIG. Another satisfactory ' circumstance, fro m the po int of view of finance , was the ve ry cons iderab le f ees Arthur Ga nde r, FIG Pres ident pa id by t he te lev is ion as a resu lt o f t he co ntractual agree ments previ o usly d rawn up . T hi s w as mad e poss ibl e t han ks to the cl ea r im provement regi stered du r ing the last few years in t he spirit of co-o perat ion the community of the t he F IG for so ma ny yea rs. Mrs. between Vill ancher, who wo rked in close co-opera- internationa l sports feder at ions {AG FI) t io n wi t h the decea sed, wi shed to ; and the International Olympic accompany him to hi s last resting pl ace. ' Committee {IOC). Let us pay tribute to the memory of our A " Dress rehearsal " , with all the honorary President by standing and orga nizatory apparatus, was held a month observing a minute of silence. before the opening of the Games. This With the sa me sentiments of gratitude proved extremely useful as it enabled us and recognition, we also pay tribute to in a very short time to eliminate certain the memory of Mr. Mans Vevers, Holland, weak points and to guarantee full success. who died une x pectedly in November Th is "Test run" should be regularly held 1972. For a number of years, Mr . Vevers prior to future Olympic Games, but it served the FIG in th e capacity of auditor . should take place longer before the actual The following birthdays were cele- Games . brated in the course of 1972: Dr. In spite of the heavy psycho-physical Miroslav Klinger, Czechoslovakia, reached burden laid on both men and women the age of 80; Vaino Lahtinen, Finland, competitors by the new programme, it celebrated his 75th birthday; Nicolai , must be admitted that the obligation of 1 Mironov, USSR, became 70; Klas participating in the 3 competitions in Thoresson was 65 and Michel order to reach the finals at the apparatus Radovanovic and Ivan Ivancevic, proved generally convincing . Even the Yougoslavia , Preside nt of the MTC, relative failure in the f ina ls at the various celebrated their 60th birthdays. These apparatus of a notorious "gymnic important milestones in life were country", cannot be allowed to make any celebrated in our Bulletin , but we should difference, as it must be attributed to like to take this opportunity once more exaggerated dar ing. of congratulating all our colleagues and of We shou ld like to take this tendering them yet again our very best opportunity of thanking all those who wishes for the future . contributed to the organization of this Our special congratulations go to one event, and to ask them to accept our of the oldest affiliated federations, the sincere recognition of their tremendous French Gymnastics Federations, which Âˇ efforts which were crowned with such celebrated its centenary this yea r. Allow success. Thanks and recognition also go us, in an annex to this Report, to add a to all the competitors, the team leaders speech made by the under-signed on the and the judges for their dignified occasion of the 10th European behaviour and discipline. Finally, our Championships at Grenoble. gratitude goes to the Press, television and

radio which spared no efforts to support art istic gymnastics . The 10th Men's European Championships took place on 12th and 13th May in Grenob le. Regarding the orga ni zat io n, t he running and the techn ica l aspect of this manifestat ion, our members should consult the Techn ical President's report published in FIG Bul let in No. 3/1973. For our part, we shou ld like once more to congratu late t he French Gymnastics Federation on the occasio n of its Centenary and to offer al I our good wishes for future prosperity, together with a souvenir from the FIG and, f inall y, to thank it for having made it itself ava il ab le for th e organization of this manifestation.

The competitions took piace between 16th and 19th August in the Palais des Sports, in the presence of 10,000 spectators. There were no less than 21 men 's teams and 10 women's teams, 8 individual, men and 3 individual women gymnasts, giving a total of 31 teams, 11 individual gymnasts, or 89 men and 43 women, i.e. 132 participants. Both the internat ional university sports federation (FISU) and the organizers adhered for the first time to our regulat ions with the 3 assorted competitions, with a single concession made with our agree ment concern ing the number of members of one team (4 instead of 6, w it h 3 valid res ults instead of 5). In spite of the fact that t he students are not necessarily used to the disciplines and condit ion s of the By means of a publicity tour in Brazil, F IG competitions, and the iudqes al)Na y s the FIG undertook for the fi rst time an meet with certain difficu lties, th e expedition on its own account. Invited by organization and running of this the ath letic authorities and by the gymnastics competit ion may be described Gymnastics Federation of Brazil, with the as good and the performances given as conscientious and efficient assistance of very good. We believe that the FIG can be Âˇ our friend, Siegfried Fischer of Brazil, the very sat isfied w ith the progress and group undertook this . trip between 14th success among our unive rs ity people, and and 26th May . Under the direction of the we are most grateful to the Federation of Secretary-General, Max Bangerter, the USSR for the excellent organization assisted by 7 other members of the FIG and administration of the competitions, authorities, the group-consisting of 30 _o f . as well as for the kind invitation the best men and women gymnasts in the addressed to the under-signed and his world-travelled the length and breadth wife by the Sports Committee of the of this vast country giving numerous USSR . demonstrations. The organization, the Another kind invitation from the running and the actual performances Federations of the USSR and Bulgaria to were, from all points of view, most the tournaments of Riga and Varna, with satisfactory and the entire expedition can representatives from different countries, be described as a signal success. This tour afforded the writer the possibility of should now have paved the way for other, Âˇ judging at f irst hand of the value of these similar expeditions. We should like to manifestations. It must be said that the thank most cordially all the gymnasts, the . impress ion gained was exce ll ent and we team leaders; the organizers and, above should like to stress the gratifying aspect all, our friend Siegfried Fischer for having of the good developement in artistic made this expedition possible and also for gymnastics. Both the organization and the role they played as ambassadors for the performances of an international our movement. May we express the hope standard were rewarded, generally that the Brazilian Federation will draw speaking, by a very definite gain . We extensive profit from the quite should in particular like to mention the extraordinary propaganda campaign that excellent impression made by the mixed the tour represented. In effect, the final competitions where both men and innumerable spectators and the interest women, together, performed brilliantly at evinced by the authorities should the various apparatus in a highly attractive constitute inva luabl e guarantees for the demonstration. It might wel I be future developement and affirmation of considered if an innovation such as this this sport. This would, indeed, represent could not be introduced into our own the greatest success of the tour and would manifestations. also_ affou:l the- best-compensation for Collaboration with the IOC the efforts made by all concerned on and other international instances beha lf of this memorable event. The annual meeting of the assembly The 6th Universiade at Moscow, held from 15th to 25th August, invested . artistic gymnastics with a brillance so far never seen, even among student circles. :

general of the international sports federations took place from 22nd to 26th May at Oklahoma-City, USA. The FIG was represented by its President and Mr.

Frank Bare. At least in part, the main heads of the work for the comi ng 26th Olympic Congress were laid down. The discussion concerned above al I the problems of amateurism as they are defined in Art. 26 of the O lymp ic regulations, the question of combatting giantism by reducing the number of the participants , the off icial ceremonies and nationalism, television fees and other demands be ing made with regard to the IOC. The word of the Assembly was distressing ly perturbed by receptions and changes of loca li ty, and the hoped -for benef it was not derived. An initial contact between the organizatory committee of the 22nd Olympic Games in Montral and t he President of the FIG, at the invitat ion of the OC, is to take place from 19th-21 st July. We have been positively irrpre ssed by the initial preparatory work done. An appropriate report will be submitted to you on the occasion of the meeting of the Assembly General. The di scussions with the IOC, i.e. with its commission dealing with the future Olympic programme, proved rath er animated. This commission has the task of seeking the possibility of reducing the number of both sports disciplines and athletes, within the framework of the combatting of giantism that is making itself increasingly felt, albeit w ithout detracting from the tradition of the Games. In its letter of 20.9.1972, t he IOC inform ed us that our request for recognition of modern rhythmic gymnastics as an Olympic discipline, presented on the occasion of the meeting in Munich, has been refused, in spite of the support given it by the programme commission of the IOC . During a discussion in Lausanne on 10.10. 72, involving Dr. Csanadi, president of the programme commission, Arthur Takac, technical director of the IOC and myself, it was simply confirmed that the refusal was justified by arguing that the FIG was already represented by a women's discipline at the Games . This alleged justification is difficult to argue against in view of all t he restrictions envisaged. We shall, however, pursue our efforts towards gaining recognition of this discipline, but - as was decided at the Congress at Liubliana we sha ll wait for _ ao __ opportune moment. A certain reduction in our numbers on the occasion of the gymnastic competitions was also discussed. The conversations between the same partners continued on 3rd and 4th February 1973 and, finally, on 9th and 10th April 1973

in Budapest, with Dr. Csanadi and in the presence of Mrs. Nagy. An interpretat ion of the programme, in keeping with the genera l decisions of the IOC made in 1972, was discussed, such points as reduct ion of the teams, a better proportioned r ight to part icipate in the finals according to country, as well as the possibilities of applying the dec isions to gymnastics. Taking into account its character and its basic conceptions, were a lso discussed . Fina lly , the presidential comm ission subm itted to Dr . Csanad i for transmiss ion to the IOC a proposa l tend ing to conform w ith the demandsÂˇ made by the IOC, but setting forth our suppl ementary demands with the reservation that his proposal be approved by the FIG authorities and the Assembly General. No co ncess ion s will be made unl ess th e other federations a lso make so me. This formal proposal has, in the meantime, reached t he federations or wil I be distributed here. We shou ld also like to add t hat a ll the discussions with Dr . Csanadi were distinguished by a cons iderab le degree of un derstandi ng and even if each party defe nded its own po int of view with firmess, the discussions took place in a spirit of goodwill. The 7th Olympic Congress at Varna, from 30th September to 4th October, where the FIG was rep resented by its President, its first Vice-President and its Secretary-General, afforded the IOC - ' after an interruption of 43 years - the chance of contact with the international sports federations and the national Olympic committees. The three parties responsible were able to reconsider the question of Olympism and the Games which, in our opinion, is an absolute . . necessity in this area of turbulence . And Âˇ even if this first vast congress - after an interruption of 43 years - succeeded in ra1s1ng some doubts regarding its structure and failed to produce the results expected, the fact nevertheless remains that the Experiment was worth trying with a view to enabling us to be more concrete and efficient next time . There is no doubt that th e meetings, personal contacts, the num erous lectures and interventions were a ll positive contributions. The conclusions drawn by the tripartite commission consisting of representatives of the IOC, the IFs and the NOCs which were adopted without modification will inform you better than anything I might say he re. The FIG medical commission has already accumulated numerous problems before it has even barely got off the ground. We are grateful to the Gymnastics Federation of the German

Federa l Republic for their efforts regarding regulations which will have to be discussed at the meeting of the Assembly Genera l in Rotterdam.

Fina lly , we have succeed ed in assur ing the organization of the 6th Gymnaestrada. Thanks to t he Gymnastics Federation of the German Federal Republic (DTB) and the Association of West Berlin, this manifestation is to take place in the first days of July 1975 in West Berlin. We be li eve that this international gymnastics festival - thanks to the place chosen will incite numerous countries to participate, thus proving that the slogan of the Olympic Congress in Varna, "Sports and Gymnastics for a World of Peace", is not just a dead letter.

Internal Problems and Conclusions The first Symposium for Men Judges took place in Madrid between 11th and 15th September w ith 49 participants from 26 federations, 7 members of the MTC and 2 of the Executive Committee . It was a great success. Four lectures given by the FIG and the Federations of Japan, USSR and Cuba, together with the 44 contributions from other participants , a ll owed of the reviewing of all the matters concerning the awarding of points, as well as the existing prescr iptions, and also of discussing at Chiasso, 17th October 1973 least part of the positive and negative Arthur Gander, President of the FIG aspects. Th is "materia l" should constitute a sound work basis for drawing up new prescriptions concerning the awarding of points envisaged for July 1975. Our thanks and recognition go, above all, to the Spanish Federation which , yet again, distingu ished itself in assuring an enormous success thanks to excel lent organization; our thanks also go to the technic ians present for their efforts and ' the contribution made to the success of this Symposium . I now have the agreeable task of express ing my thanks and appreciat ion to a ll the affi liated federations that have worked so actively to further the mission of the FIG . We should like to encourage the other federations to be as active as these others and, with the means available, to promote healthy collaboration . My thanks a lso go to the members of the Executive Committee, the Technica l Committees and the Commi ssion for Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics for their exce llent collaboration in the interests of our common cause. To these I add my thanks to all those who have helped this year with the work of the various commissions. A specia l thank you goes to Max Gilberte Bangerter for their exemplary pl a nning of our practical and functiona l new General Secretari ate. Moreover, we are most deeply inde bted to them for t he vast amount of adm ini strative work t hey have done and a lso for their accurate and conscientious management of our finances. These finances, thanks to our unremitting efforts, are favourable enough to allow us to call upon emunerated external "forces" to help us master the ever-increasing volume of administrative work.

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Minutes of the USGF Technical Committee for Men November 3, 1974 St. Louis, Mo. The meeting wa s ca ll ed to order by Frank Cumiskey at 6:30 PM. The roll was called by States and there were 20 Technical Chairmen present after the meet ing started . It was agreed to hold this meeting at a time when t here would be less conflict w ith other meetings. Mr . Cumiskey explained t hat Mr. Wettstone was in charge of the whole State of Pennsylvania ( sin ce it was decided to eliminate the Phi la. Met. area). Also Mr . Roetzheim was in charge of the whole state of Ill inois as Mr. Pond had moved to Utah. The reports of the State Chairmen were accepted but not read, there are some an nu al reports outstand ing. Mr. Eugene Wettstone then gave his report on the Elite championships for Men held under the new format. It was an excel lent compet1t1on. These USGF "Champi onships of the USA" will be conducted in the same manner in 1974, each region must hold tria ls either the weekend of April 26, 27 or May 3, 4; 1974. The regions wil l follow the NCAA boundaries for this competition, only. The Championships will be held on May 10, 11, 1974. Mr. Cumiskey then reported on the Foreign Tours. The United States Gymnastics Federation had the busiest season in it's history conducting tours of Foreign Teams. Hungary, Rumania, France, Russia, Japan and China sent teams to the United States. The map on the first page indicates the cities visited and some such as Los Angeles, Phila. and others as indicated had two or three teams. The teams began t he tours in Mid-February and continued thru the beginn ing of June. The USGF in addition to rais ing funds to promulgate our programs, seeks to promote enthusiasm for gymnastics in different parts of the country . In all citie ~ t hat have seen these t eams, excellent reports have been received from all sectors. I had the privilege of traveling part way with the Hungarians, and all th e way with the Rumanians, Russians and the Chinese . In each case the Foreign Teams were well received, stayed at th e best hot e l ~ , had f ine food, sa w many sights of the United States and went hom e singing the praises of the Americans. In every ca se our Federation received letters of thanks for a fine tour and in some instances friendships were

formed between our gymnastsÂˇ and their's. It is an extremely important function of the USGF. The following is a listing of the itinerary of each team: Feb. 16-17 Feb . 19-20 Feb . 23-24

Feb. 27 Mar. 3

Feb. 21

Feb . 21 Feb.21 Feb. 27-28 Mar. 2 Mar. 3

Mar. 10 Mar. 12 Mar . 14 Mar. 17 Mar. 19 Mar. 21

HUNGARY Ch icago, Ill . Maine West High School Terre Haute , Ind. Indiana State University Univers ity Park, Pa. Penn State Univ. (Official Match) Philadelphia, Pa . Temple Un iversity New Haven, Conn. New Haven Coliseum RUMAN IA E. Stroudsburg, Pa. E. Stroudsburg Teachers College Liverpoo l, N.Y. Live rpo ol High School Eugene, Oregon Un iversity of Oregon Berkeley, Cal. Univ. of Cal. at Berke ley Phoenix, Az . Ar izona State Univers ity Denver, Colo. Lakewood Hi gh School RUSSIA Houston, Tex. Astrodome Buffalo, N.Y. Buffalo Memorial Audit. Los Angeles, Ca. L.A. Sports Arena Miami, Fla. Convention Hall Washington, D.C. Univ. of Maryland Philadelphia , Pa . Spectrum New York. N.Y. Madison Square Garden Chicago , Ill. Chiacago Stad ium

Mar. 23 Mar. 24 Mar. 26 Mar. 27 Mar. 29 Mar. 31

Los Angeles, Ca. Cal. State U at L.A . Tucson, Az . Palo Verde, H.S. Aurora, Co lo. Aurora Central, H.S. Co lorado Spgs, Colo. Coronado H .S. Cedar Rapids, Iowa Wash ington, H.S. Flossmoor, Ill. Homewood, H.S.

PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA May 21 New York, N.Y . Madison Square Garden May 23 Ph il ade lphia, Pa. Spectrum May 25 Tucson, Az . Commu-nity Center May 31 Los Angeles, Ca. L.A. Sports Arena Seattle, Wash. June 4 University of Washington This visit by the Peoples Republic of China was perhaps t he most interesting from our viewpoint. It was an on-again, off-again type of visit and very d iff icult to arrange since we ha d to work t hru a 3rd party, the Committee fo r U.S. China Re lations. After much talk and time, th e visit was arranged for Jun e which we did not particularly care for and then sud de nly the visit time became May. There was much scurry ing around to arrange the visit . The Chinese let us know that they were basically interested in a sightseeing type of visit even though they wanted to stay 3 weeks . They also only preferred 3 appearances, and we later asked them for 5 which they agreed to do.

The above visits were in the main culturally a success. We did not know Mar. 23 what to expect and found the Chinese to be very friendly and after a few meetings Mar. 26 they were willing to accede to all our . wishes . They learned Amer ican songs and sung them, such as "Home on the Range" FRANCE and they learned while here "America" April 21 Nesham iny, Pa. which th ey also presented in later Neshaminy High School performances. They also danced and gave April 23 E. Brunswick, N .J. very interesting exhibitions. At the E. Brun swick High School Offici al Match in New York , they didn't April 24 Syracuse, N.Y. even require a judge of their own in Syra cu se School of Gym. matches where th eir girls lo st and their Arxi l 26-27 Durham, N.H . University of N. Hampshire men won. Although Chin ese food w;5 provided throughout the trip, they ate American food with rel ish and one of the brightest spots was watching 2 bus loads JAPAN HIGH SCHOOL BOYS of Chinese eating buckets of "Kentucky Mar. 17 San Jose, Ca. Fried Chicken" until their stomaches Piedmont Hill s, H.S. hurt. All -i n-all this was a fine tour and Mar. 19 Chico, Ca. they' asked us to visit China in 1974. Cal. State U at Chico

There was then much discussion on the problems in some states concerning competition of high school boys outside of their High School Program. Many present were having difficulty and many excellent suggestions were offered. The USGF Compulsories were recommended to be used in High Schools and throughout the United States and for the USGF Junior Olympic Program . Hal Frey said that we should be invo lved in a National Program and National Age Group Program and Cumiskey asked Frey to submit his ideas. It was also decided that the National Technical Committee should select the Coach for the World Games in Varna in 1974 and it was also decided to encourage the College coaches to adopt the International program. Fred Roethlisberger suggested that each member write to Mr. Cumiskey concerning their proposals. Mr. Hughes suggested setting up the program to . correspond to the Women's program and using the USGF Age Group Exercises for the USGF Junior Olympic Program. All agreed that the meeting next year must be held at a better time and with more time allocated. Meeting was adjourned at 8:15 P.M.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MR. RAY AH ONE, RETIRED BOEING CORPORATION EMPLOYEE WHO SPENT SOME 180 HOURS MAKING THE U.S.G.F. SEAL IN WOOD . IT WAS PRESENTED TO THE USGF AT THE ST. LOUIS CONGRESS BY MR. AHONE'S SON KEITH. IT WILL BE USED FOR MANY YEARS TO COME AT BANQUETS, MEETINGS AND THE CONGRESS, IS BEAUTIFULLY MADE AND A TRIBUTE TO MR. AHONE'S SKILL AND INTEREST IN SPORTS.

After

serving

the

Rules

CHAIRMAN-NCAA RULES COMMITTEE Commmittee for years and fighting to . have our rules follow the F.l.G. it is hard to understand why we are now turning away from the F .l.G. and International level of competition. Are we once again to return to the point where we can be criticized for not promoting the International program? To me the greatest gymnastic championship in the United States is the NCAA meet. Why now are we not using all the instruments to measure the best gymnast or the best college or university team in the finals. To reduce all optional sessions to competition No . 1 is to encourage ED GAGNIER mediocrity by "playing it safe". To tho_se . of you on the rules committee who are concerned with judging you are taking To: CHAIRMAN EDWARD away an opportunity for our judges to GAGNIER AND NCAA RULES judge at the different levels. Before when we used Competition No. 1 and No. 3 our COMMITTEE MEMBERS judges would have two or three From: opportunities to judge this level of BILL MEADE, GYMNASTICS competition but now they do not Âˇhave COACH SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ONE opportunity in the college area of UNIVERSITY . gymnastics. Subject: In our colleges today we have men Item 9. on Mimeographed Sheet from and who are capable of teams Gymnastics Rules Committee competing in competition No. 3 and Chairman, Ed Gagnier, Dated April 16, they deserve the right to compete on that level to determine who is the best 1973 and is listed below. gymnast and which is the best team. We 9. All optional sessions are to be have the compulsories which tells us judged on the basis of F. l.G. about compet1t1on No. 1 and Competition No. 1 with the e~ception VIRTUOSITY at a low level. that two vaults will be required for the I would like to encourage you, the team and individual finals. Passes Rules Commmittee, to discuss this change (6-0) at the Coaches Congress in St. Louis in Note: November. A change of this magnitude Judging on a 10 point scale will bringÂˇ sho uld have discussion from the coaches final scores more in line with the and the gymansts. intent and character of our NCAA The above copy of the letter from Bill Championship finals. Meade to the NCAA Rules Committee Members is very interesting. Will the Dear Gentlemen: effect of the ruling cause a slowdown in I received a copy of the new ru les just the progress of Men's Gymnastics? Many before leaving for Bulgaria and the reasons are advanced for the rate of pre-World Champ ion ship Invitational, and progress of Men's Gymnastics being did not have time to comment on them at slower than some other countries, that time. including specialist programs, lack of After returning from this meet and Compulsories except for major watching competition conducted under competitions, overabundance of Dual the F.1.G. rules with Competition No. 1 Matches, attraction of other sports, and and Competition No. 3, I could not the many entertaining draws in America. believe that we had reduced our own Will this rule effect our International NCAA Championship to a competition Teams? Bill Meade makes some where it was not important to encourage interesting observations which indicate RISK and ORIGINALITY but just make that our program effort to raise the level it a nice little meet where any side horse of gymnasts will be dulled. man who had one "C" and five "B" moves could compete with an Ed Slezak WHATDOYOUTHINK ?????? who had eight or nine "C" moves or with a Swanson from Navy who used the largest amount, 10 or 12.

ROTTERDAM VI WORLD'S MODERN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS CHAM Pl ONSH I PS November 15 - 18, 1973 Mildred Prchal The five member USGF delegation including two gymnasts, Sarah Brumgart, Katherine Brym, Coach, Nora Veyette, official pianist, Dr. Don Morrison, and delegate, Mildred Prchal, arrived in Rotterdam on Sunday, November 11th; only busses and cars with permits were on streets due to gas shortage. The first Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics meeting was held on Monday, November 12th in the de Doelen Concert Hall, a short distance from the Hilton Hotel where our de legation was housed . Mme. Andreina Gotta, chairman of the FIG. Modern Rhythm ic Gym nast ics Committee greeted the assembly. 31 delegates and the FIG. Committee of seven were in attendance. 27 nations, 64 individuals and 18 alternates were registered for the VI World 's Championships: West Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil , Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Denmark, Spain, Fin land , France, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, East Germany, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Russ ia , Jugoslavia, New Zealand, North Korea, United States, Roumania . 18 of these countries entered the group competition . 24 countries entered the individual competitions. A few countries were represented by a delegate; these are not included in the above countries. Proposals by various countries were discussed. Among them European Championships to be held every two years, i.e. during the year between the World's Championships . Discussion as to which countries constituted the "European countries" and the eligibility of Israel into the European group ensued. Another proposal that Judges and Tra iners Courses be conducted on a continental basis arose. "The November 1972 Varna Judges and Trainers Course cited as an example . 63 was representatives from 25 countries attended this course - a great number of ' people were refused parhcipation. The reasons were that considerable space is necessary because of the use of hand apparatus and groups should not consist of more than 10 or 15 persons ." In my opinion it would be well for these courses to be held on our continent for many reasons. The Judges and Trainers courses

would then be conducted on a cont inental le vel as is t he case in artist ic gymnastics . World's The 1975 VII MGR. Championsl>ips are to be held in Spain. The events will consist of a 6-member group exercise w ith three jump ropes and three balls; a compulsory ind ividua l exerc ise with clubs, includ ing 4 compu lsory elements selected from thE 1973 Rotterdam exercise and 4 origina l Âˇ elements; an individual exercisE (optional) with ball, an individua optional exercise with ribbon and an individua l optional exercise with hoop. On November 13th, I attended the General Assembly meeting also in de Doelen. On November 14th, all MGR. delegates were bussed to the Shel I Sport complex "De Vijf Slui zen" Vlaardingen gymnasium. From 8:30 to 1 :00 a w ell organized and intensi ve course for judges An excellent and was conducted. conscientious English translator assisted throughout the session. A number of alternates or reserves from various countries were on hand for demonstration purposes. Mme. Gotta presented a very interesting and constructive lecture on theory, and enumerated the qua li ties necessary for a good judge. The subject for this session was General Penalties, compulsory Club exercise which was to be judged the following day, and the optional hoop. On November 15th, another very constructive session was held in Vlaardingen; the four compulsory elements for the ribbon exercise, optional ball exerc ise and the jump rope exercise for the group were analyzed, demonstrated, and judged . On this day at the close of the judges' session, judges and coaches met and received instructions as to their activities during the Champi onships . Âˇ The SPORTPALEIS AHOY' where the World's Championships were held, is a beautiful arena or stadium seating 6,000 people on the outskirts of Rotterdam . Two floor exercise areas 12m x 12rn were provided for the gymnasts, one with a rug covering and one without; long jury . tab les were on both the north and south sides, a piano was placed beside each of the floor areas. Gymnasts came up stairs from the dressing rooms at one end of the arena and entered the exercise area upon the appearance of a green light . At 8:00 p.m., just before the program started, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands arrived and was escorted to her seat, whereupon a band of over one

Morrison ; B rumgart,P rchal, B rym. Veyette

hundred mus1c1ans played the hymn of her country and marched around the arena. A choral group sang a number of songs. Groups of costumed girls threw flowers in to the bleachers while bouqu ets were presented to the Princess. Then the groups of the 27 participating nations, marched into the arena; the leader of each group carrying the flag of her country - I was happy to see the American flag , for the first time, in the World's Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. The Chairman of the Nederlands Gymnastiek Verbond presented Mr. Gander, President of the , FIG. After Mr. Gander's address the countries marched off and the competition began . From the beginning it was obvious that the Russian, Czechoslovakian, and Bulgarian teams would be competing for top honors, but Italy, Korea , East Germany and others received high scores. The skillful handling of the rope, interesting changes of pattern, throwing of the rope and other intricate elements necessary for a winning composition, in many cases, were breathtaking. The two winning groups were Russia and Czechoslovakia and there was not much doubt that these teams would be contenders for first place in the finals to be held on the 18th. November 16th, 6:00 p.m . competitions with clubs and hoops. 32 gymnasts, (1st half of the group of 64) marched in single file upon the podium, judges following. Each gymnast and judge was introduced; they then retired and prepared for ind ividua l competition.

Gymnasts alternated, one with clubs, the next with hoop. The officially prescribed Indian Clubs are very difficult to purchase in our country I was fortunate to find two pairs of clubs in one of our Skol gymnasiums one and one-half years ago and later brought five pairs from Europe. Although this is "old" apparatus, the handling of clubs in MGR today is comparable to that of a professional "juggler" but un like the static position of the specialist, the leaps, gymnast must execute high pirouettes and difficult gymnast ic elements wh il e twirling or throwing the clubs. The hoop, too, had many risky throws upward (14 ft. minimum) and it was here where we saw a very excellent Czechoslovak gymnast lose her opportunity to compete in the finals when her hoop broke into two pieces during her exercise. November 17th, 5:00 p.m . competition with ball and r ibbon. It was during the ball exercise competition that the interpretation of the music was most noticeable. Here the skill of the pian ist and his artistic rendition of the selected music influenced the evaluation of many of the more experienced gymnasts. The ribbon is fairly new and very popular with the gymnasts. But it is necessary to keep it in constant motion without contacting the body or allowing it to entangle. November 18th, 1 :00 p.m. - The program in cluded the finals for the 6 highest gymnasts , and the 6 highest groups, the distribution of the awards and the closing ceremonies. The final group results were : 1. Russia 37 .50 2. Czechoslovakia 36.85 3. East Germany 36.60 4. Italy 36.40 5. Bulgar ia 36.30 6. Korea R.D.P. 35.80 The final Individual results : A tie for 1st place: Russia I Shugurova Bulgaria I Gigova Russia 111 Krachinnekova Bulgaria IV Filipova Hungary V Patocska Bulgaria VI Robeva The opportunity to see gymnasts of our country participate in this MGR World's Championship was another step forward in our efforts to bring this beautiful sport to the high level where, without doubt, it belongs . Our gymnasts, Sarah Brumgart and Katherine Brym, were a credit to the United States. As pioneers who had never

seen a World's Championship in Modern WOMEN'S NATIONAL GYMNASTICS Rhythmic Gymnastics, their appearance JUDGING ASSOCIATION and presentation of the exercises were Kitty Kjeldsen well received. Sarah's scores of 8.00 for U.S.G.F. Director clubs, 8.00 for hoop, 7.55 for ball and 7.70 for ribbon, and Kathy's scores of 7.30 for clubs, 7.85 for hoop, 6.85 for ball and 7.90 for r,ibbon were more than satisfactory. I was happy to meet many of our citizens from the United States who had come to see the World's Championships and who were proud to see our representatives among the finest exponents of modern rhythmic gymnastics in the world . The United States Gymnastics Federation deserves much credit and thanks for sponsoring this event. All of the efforts toward the realization of our progress is due, to a great extent, to the understanding and encouragement from our USGF officials.

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Kitty Kjeldsen, member of the School of Physical Education, was appointed by the United States Gymnastics Federation to be the first Director of the newly created Women's National Gymnastics Judging Association . The Appointment was made at t he USGF Congress of Coaches on November 3rd in St. Louis, Missouri, where Ms. Kje ldsen was presenting a research paper as the only woman member of the Biomechanics Taskforce for the United States Gymnastics Federation. Nationally known as a judge, coach and author in the U .S. Gymnastics scene, Ms. Kjeldsen initiated women's gymnastics at th e University of Massachusetts by starting a women's team consisting of rank beg inners in 1962. Within 5 years the team rose into nat ional prominence by placing 6th in the first National Invitationa l Intercollegiate championships held in St . Louis. meets only by Defeated in dual Springfield College, the team rose to 4th place rank ing in the nation by 1969 and was a serious threat to the championship throne from there on . In 1972, Ms. Kjeldsen resigned from coaching, devoting her time to judging, writing and traveling in the name of the USGF National Judges Training Committee. She is an internationally rated judge and author of several gymnastics books. At present Ms. Kjeldsen is lecturing in the Exercise Science Department at the University of Massachusetts.

MINUTES FALL MEETING U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Committee for Men St. Louis, Missouri November 2, 1973

I. CALL TO ORDER/OPENING REMARKS A. T he meeting was cal led to order by

Lt. General Henry W. Buse, Jr., U.S.M.C. (Ret), Chairman of the U.S. O ly mpic Games Preparation Committee, in the abse nce of a Gymnastics Committee chairman, at 3:00 p.m., November 2, 1973. B. A roll call of membership was taken. Mr. Ed McNeil was the only member absent (see attached listi ng) . C. Some points of informat ion were ex plained by Lt . Genera l Buse, to include : 1. Creation of Athletes Ad visory Council. 2. Action taken by USOC Board of Directors on Rule 26 recommendations before IOC Congress - Bulgaria (Sept.). 3. Four year budget requests (Developm ent-Tea m Preparation-Committee). 4. Committee sport patches for jackets. 5. Current Development Program. 6. Plans for team selection (G eneral Rules, Part I - Rules for Sport Committees (b), Page 7 of USOC Constitution). 7. National Coach concept. D. A review of the criteria, qualifications, and responsibilities of members and officers of the committee was accomplished by Lt. General Buse. E. Lt. General Buse undertook temporary chairmanship in order to faci li tate election of officers. F. Election of Chairman: 1. Nominated were Mr . Bill Meade, Roetzheim, and Lt. Mr. Bill Colonel Karl Schwenzfeier . 2. Elected - Mr. Bill Meade. II. CHAIRMAN - Mr. Bill Meade A. Election of Secretary: 1. Nominated were Lt. Colonel Karl Schwenzfeier, Mr. Gene Wettstone, and Mr. Hal Frey . 2. Elected Lt. Colonel Karl Schwenzfeier. B. Chairman Meade suggested an election of a Vice Chairman (to serve in his absence).

were Mr. Gene 1. Nominated Wettstone, Mr. Bill Roetzheim, and Mr. Ha l Frey . 2. Elected - Mr. Gene Wettstone. Ill. OPEN DISCUSSION/NATIONAL COACH CONCEPT Frey - pointed out the poss ib le budgetary responsibility conflicts with the USOGC and USGF. Buse - exp la in ed th is concept is meant to be related only to the USOC / USOGC . Frey - 5aid logically it should be associated even more so to th e USG F. Grossfeld - st ated there must be coordination to a high degree between t he USOGC and USGF if this concept is adopted. Maloney - asked if this coach would be a ful l time paid employee ($15,000.00 pl us expenses). Chalmers - questioned if the money would be available considering all the other sports invo lved. Buse - reminded all that in theory an Olympic coach is not allowed to be paid. Grossfeld described situations involving other countries where th is is done. Milan - suggested we query the USOC on all funding aspects. Shanken - reiterated the same . Wettstone - suggested a need also for several assistant coaches . . Elder - described a need for technical committee coordination with the coach also. Coco - fe lt we should only concern ourselves with the elite gymnast level. Shanken - questioned what other sports are doing with this concept. Beckner - agreed with Wettstone's previous assistant coach statement. Willson - felt that over 90% of the athletes concerned were involved in col ler.ie ath letics. Gagnier - proposed the monies should Âˇ go to the athletes in the form of a scholarship after graduation rather than to a coach. Willson - stated some monies should be used for competitions for these athletes.

Bill Meade

Gene Wettstone

Lt Colonel Karl K. Schwenzfeier

Wettstone - agreed the moni es should go to the at hletes. Buse - pointed out the smaller spo rts tend to be more interested in this concept than the larger ones. Coco - said the women's area have decided on a director/leader concept rather than a coach, but that their area is easier than ours at present since it is less complex referring to all around on ly and relatively fewer school conflicts. Beckner reminded us of those athletes not currently in school. Frey - suggested the NCAA give their post graduate scholarships to possible o lympi ans rather than the current system (academics) . He also suggested NCAA gymnastics move to all around only/international rules. brought out the Grossfeld independent club movement and a need for lower level/age group program development. Rowlands - proposed a subcommittee to study the national leader concept. Wettstone - seconded this proposal. Buse - reminded us of a 1 December dead lin e. He stated since this was a short suspense, the USOC would understand any lack of co mpleteness. Gagnier - proposed a $20,000.00 request to the USOC to be used for athletic post graduate scholarships . Elder - second this proposal. Beckner - questioned the proposal's feasib ility . Maloney - underscored the fact we were on ly to decide on th e national coach concept at th is time. Elder - stated he was against delay and, for instance, subcomm ittee action at this time. Meade - called for a vote on the post graduate schol arship and national leader subcommittee questions. Milan - su ggested we vote only on the national coach co ncept . Grossfeld - reiterated the nationa l coach conce pt is too complex and suggested delaying the decision . Elder - pressed aga in on the need for action. Coco - voiced his opposition to the post graduate ath lete proposal point ing out his belief the USOC would not find it accept able. Roetzheim - subm itted th is proposal had merit for extending the athletic longevity of an ind ividua l. Trummer - suggested the athlete should receive the money directly without ties such as scholarships to schools . Coco - repeated these se ntiments stressing funds for compet itions.

Schwenzfeier - stated we should vote on the nati ona l coach concept first. Poss ibly this perso n cou ld serve to solve other problems such as fund raising for at hl ete support, etc. Meade - suggested also th is pe rson could be possibly held responsible to meet a ll needs surrounding th e development of a national team. Gagnier - agreed with this thought trend. Wettston e - suggested a subco mmittee on th e area of financial matters . Lark - requested we address ourselves to .the nation a l coach co ncept question. Elder - withdrew his second of Gagnier's proposal. Shanken __: proposed we move to accept a national coach co nce pt with program modification s to be formulated by a subcommittee composed of th e executive off icers a nd Mr . Ed Gagnier, and subject to submi ss ion to a nd a pproval of the USOGC. Schwenzfeier - seconded this moti on. Meade - called for the question and it obta in ed a unan imous vote for approva l. IV. OPEN DISCUSSION/OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS DEVELOPMENT Meade - suggested we appoint a subcommittee on o lympic development for 1974 through 1976. He covered possible competit ions in the near future which should be considered developmental and therefore elig ible for USOC fund grants . These were d iscussed along with their individual funding requirements and were found to total $23,500.00 . He appointed a subcommittee to include Mr. John Beckner, Mr . Courtney Shanken, Mr . Hal Frey, Mr. Tom Maloney, and himse lf . reminded us the USOC Buse Development Comm ittee was to meet on this subject matter on 16 November . Shanken - broug ht up the question of this Committee's re lationship to the Junior Olympic Program. Maloney - reported there is currently a legal quest ion to be ultimately decided in the courts regard ing the USGF's request to realign the Junior O lymp ic Gymnastics Program (name) with the current governing body (USGF vs AAU). Shanken - stated this committee (USOGC) should concern itself more than in the past with the "grass roots" levels. Grossfeld - reported the women's area is requesting funding for a Junior National Girls team . Beckner - subm itted his k nowledge of USSR financial support of junior and "back-u p" type teams .

Meade - stated high schoo l gymna sts are a lready a factor to be considered at the el ite level s of our sport . Beckner suggested we request $6,000.00 for junior team development. Shanken - suggested direct support to the Junior Olympics by th is committee. Meade - said thi s all would be subm itted to the subcommmittee on development for study. Frey - suggested the need for a National Junior Program Di rector in view of th e sport's growing independent c lub situation . Lark - reviewed the complexities of the high school age group period at this time with e mphasis on the many conflicting rules/regu lations. Coco - stated the girls' program had fewer problems in this respect. Meade - ended this discussion. V. ANNOUNCEMENT/OLYMPICS TR IA L TRIALS BID Coco - presented a request from the Philadelph ia Bicentennial Committee to ho st the final Olympic Gymnastics Trials in 1976. VI. MEETING - SITE, DATE, TIME Wettstone suggested the 1974 NCAA Championships at Penn State. Elder - a mailing instead of a meeting. Meade - suggested the meeting cou ld be cancelled if cons idered not important enough and proposed the NCAA site with specific time to be determined later. Wettstone - seconded this proposal. Meade - called fo r the question and it received unanimous approval. VII. ADJOURNMENT Frey - motioned we adjourn . Shanken - seconded the motion. Meade - called for the question and it received unanimous approval at 6:00 p.m.

Submitted by, Karl K. Schwenzfeier, Lt. Colonel, USAF Secretary, USOGC

NATIONAL GYMNASTICS JUDGES ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING November 4, 1973 St. Louis - Mariott Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll call was taken by Jerry Todd, Secretary . Present were Frank Cumiskey, Ted Muzyczko, Bob Stout, Bob Fisher, Ken Allen, Jon Culbertson, Jerry Wright from the Board, and Les Sasvary from the Technical Committee. Bill Roetzheim and Jim Sullivan were not present. The minutes of April 6, 1973 were presented by Secretary, Jerry Todd. Accepted as correct . Treasurers report was submitted-present balance $402.48. This is without the 1973-74 membership dues, which are due every year at the U .S.G.F. Congress. Report accepted as written. Jerry Todd introduced the newly elected Board Members for 1973-75. Bob Stout - Director, East Ken Allen - Director, Mid-East Bob Fisher - Director, M id-West Jerry Todd - Director, West Jon Culbertson - Director at Large Ted Muzyczko - Director at Large Election procedures were discussed. According to N.G .J.A. Constitution only the newly elected Board Members are eligible to vote for officers. Muzyczko reminded everyone that only a previous Board Member or a Technical Committee Member shal l be eligible for consideration. A list of eligible candidates wa s prepared which was as follows: Todd, Sull ivan, Wright, Draghi, Sasvary from the West, Fisher from the Mid-West, Muzyczko, Roetzheim from the Mid-East, Stout, and Culbertson from the East. ELECTION: Frank Cumiskey took nominations for Executive Director. Ted Muzyczko was nomined by Ken Allen - Jerry Todd was nominated by Les Sasvary - Executive D irector, Ted Muzyczko . Nominations for Technical Director Bob Stout was nominated by Ted Muzyczko Jon Culbertson was nominated by Bob Fisher - Technical Dirnctor, Jon Culbertson . Nominations for Secretary Bob Fisher was nominated by Bob Stout - Bob Stout was nominated by Ted Muzyczko Jerry Todd was nominated by Les Sasvary - Les Sasvary was nominated by Bob Fisher Secretary, Les Sasvary.

Nominations for Treasurer Bob Stout was nominated by Ted Muzyczko - Jerry Todd was nominated by Les Sasvary - Treasurer, Bob Stout. Discussed the possibility of enlarging the N.G.J .A. Technical Committee si nce most of the work is done at the technical level. The committee Âˇ voted unanimously to raise the members of the Technical Committee to eight. With this thought in mind Culbertson ca lled for nomination for the New Technical Committee . Ken Allen made the motion to accept the nominees, seconded by Stout. Passed 7-0. Technical Committee 1973-75: Jon Culbertson - Technical Director; Les Sasvary - Technical Director, West; Bob Fisher Technical Director, Mid-West; Bill Roetzheim - Technical Director, Mid-East; Bob Stout Technical Director, East; Don Nelson Technical Director at Large; Fred Orlofsky - Technical Director at Large; Martin Huckabee - Technical Director at Large. Frank Ted Muzyczko thanked Cumiskey for his contributions as Executive Director and a spiritua l leader for the passed 4 years. (Frank was also a "founding father" of the N .G.J.A.) Frank stepped down with the following thought : 1. Must progress further, 2. Improve communication by answering letter in ten days, 3. Take leadership, let the world follow us. M uzycz k o as k ed f or suggest .ion s for the general meeting. 1. Discuss and finalize the patch for

National Gymnastics Judges Association General Meeting November 3, 1973 U.S.G.F. Congress Marriott Hotel, St. Louis Meeting called to order by Executive Director Ted Muzyczko at 8: 15 p.m . He welcomed members present and introduced the new Board of Directors and Technical Committee for 1973-75.

Board Directors Ted Muzyczko Execut ive Director Jon Cu lbertson Technical Director Les Sasvary Secretary Bob Stout Treasurer Regional Director East Ken Allen Regional Director Mid-East Bob Fisher Reg ional Director Mid-West Jerry Todd Regional Director West Technical Committee Jon Culbertson Technical Director Bob Stout Technical Chairman Bill Roetzheim Technical Chairman Bob Fisher Technical Chairman Les Sasvary Technica l Chairman Martin Huckabee

East Mid-East Mid-West West

Technical Chairman at la rge Don Nelson Technica l Chairman at large

Fred Or lofsky Technica l Chairman at large N .G.J.A. 2. Creation of a National Newsletter Roll cal l showed that all officers were for N.G .J.A. present with the exception of Martin 3. Order clip-board for judges with Huckabee. N.G .J.A. insignia. Jerry Todd the outgoing Secretary 4. Film for side-horse ski ll s. read the minutes of April 6, 1973 held at 5. Discuss Hall of Fame award for Eugene, Oregon at the N.C.A.A. Finals . . N.G.J.A. Jerry Wright the outgoing Treasurer The meeting was adjourne.d by . gave his report about t he financial status Executive Director, Ted Mu zyczko at of N.G.J .A. Ba lance 402 .28 with all 7:45 p.m. membership dues still outstanding forÂˇ 197--3J4J They're always due at the U .S.G.F. Congress. They should be forwarded to the new Treasurer :_ Bob Stout within 10 days! Muzyczko spoke on patches for N.G .J.A . They will be ordered immed iately following the Congress and be made available for each association . Please order from Ted.

National Gymnastic Judges Association November 4, 1973 St. Louis - Mariott Hotel St. Louis, Missouri

ZWICKEL

Muzyczko reminded everyone that for championship meets a dark blue jacket, gray slacks, shirt and tie will be required for 1973-74. Bob Stout wi ll inquire about a reasonable price and availability and will inform everyone concerned. Culbertson will look into getting instructional cassettes. Todd will be in charge of purchasing clip-boards or folders for judges with N .G.J .A. insignia for the most rea sonable price . Muzyczko requested that all presidents should provide Sasvary with a current list of National and Regional Judges. Deadline January 1, 1974. Culbertson described the responsibilities of a Technical Chairman _within each area.

A Distinctive Line of Men's and Women's Uniforms

SEJ.ECTED BY

Muzyczko brought up the fact that Ken Allen is going to edit the N.G.J.A. newsletter approximately 4 times annually. Everyone should send worth-while articles to Ken. Mucyczko announced the recipients for the Frank Cumiskey Hall of Fame Award for 1973. Winner s: Fred Meyer and Jerry Todd. Congratulations. Nominations for the award should be sent to th e Regional Directors with a comprehensive dossier on the individual then they should be submitted to Sasvary one month prior to N.C.A.A. Finals. Jerry Wright, N.C.A.A. Rules Committee Western Region called for small area changes in N .G.J. A . constitution to follow N.C.A.A. regions in order to make the selection of judges according to areas for N.C.A.A. Fina ls. Ed Gagn ier complimented the N.G.J.A. for the great job. He called everyones attention on 1973-74 N.C.A.A. rule changes for officials. (See N.C.A.A. Rule Book 1973-74) Asked for recommendations how should the judges be selected for N.C.A.A. Finals . Muzyczko pointed out that N.G.J.A. should and will work very closely with the Biomechanical Task Force. Frank Cumiskey gave his report on the First International Judges Symposium, Madrid, Spain, September 11, 1973. Frank spoke at the Symposium representing the United States on changes we would like takinq place at F.l.G. level.

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THE BIOMECHANICS OF VAULTING (A paper presented to the U.S. Gymnastics Federation Coaches' Congress, St. Louis, Mo., November 1973) By Dr. James Hay Introduction Unlike most of the other speakers on this program, I cannot lay claim to having an extensive background in gymnastics either as a performer or as a coach. I'm therefore very ill-equipped to tell you how to coach gymnastics, and I will not attempt to do so. Instead, I'd like to try and interest you in the possibility that biomechanics could be helpful to you in your coaching-and, specifically, in your coaching of vaulting. Vaulting can be subdivided into seven phases: (1) run -up, (2) hurdle, (3) take-off, (4) pre-flight, (5) support, (6) flight, and (7) landing . It is my intention to touch upon each of these phases briefly and to try and acquaint you with some aspects of vaulting which you may not have considered previously.

3. The vaulter should learn how to run efficiently . . Speed in running is the product of stride length and stride frequency (or rate of striding) . For example, a distance runner who has a 6' stride and takes 3 strides per second runs at a speed of 18 fps. Speed = Stride length x Stride frequency = 6 ft x 3 per second = 18 ft per second Now, track runners (and, especially, sprinters) long ago learned that they could increase their running speed by . careful attention to their running form -something which appears to have completely escaped the attention of vaulters. A simple comparison of the running action of an experienced sprinter with that of the world's best male vaulters reveals the following glaring

maintain his forward velocity necessarily implies that the hurdl e step shou ld be low-fast and low. Take-off The take-off is without question the most important phase of a vault. It is here that ( 1) the form of the parabol a fo l lowed by the vaulter's center of gravity during the pre-flight and (2) the angular momentum (the Âˇq uantity of angular motion) he will have during the pre-flight, are fixed. In all this, the most impo rta nt factor is probably the vertical velocity (or "lift") that the vaulter gets from the board . Now, the vertica l veloc ity with which the vaulter leaves the board is governed by ( 1) the vertical velocity of his center of gravity at the in sta nt he makes contact with the board and (2) the change in vertical velocity of his center of gravity brought about during the take-off. Let's consider each of these in t urn . The gymast's vertical velocity as he touches down on the board depends on the nature of his hurdle step. If this has been high and long he will have a considerable downward vertical velocity at touchdown and, as a direct consequence, much of the vertical force exerted during the take-off will be wasted in arresting his downward motion . This loss, or wastage, of vertical forces necessarily results in less vert ical velocity at take -o ff . On the other hand, if the hurdle step is short, low and fast, the vaulter can land on the board with I ittl e, if any, downward vertical veloc ity. All the vertical forces exerted can then be used to generate the much -needed l ift. Now, the "cushioning" fl ex ion of th e vaulter's hip, knee and ankle joints as he lands on the board might at fir st glance seem to produce a downward vertic al velocity regardle ss of how he execu t es t he hurdle step. Thi s is not nece ssar rl v the case , for at the same time as his legs benci to cushion the shock of the lan din g and to

R un-up The purpose of the run-up is to bring the vaulter to the take -off with the errors in the latter's form: (a) Incomplete extension of the hip, maximum speed which he can control in knee and ankle joints of the driving leg. his subsequent movements . Of these This incomplete drive (usuually two-speed and control-it is generally accompanied by a restricted lifting of the the first which is the lim iting factor for a knee of the recovery leg) results in a vaulter. Few, it seems, can generate more reduction in the stride length of the speed than they can handle. Or, to put it vaulter. another way, most vaulters could handle (b) Improper carriage of the arms. more speed if they could only generate it. Straight (or near-straight) arms cannot be All of which brings us to the question: moved as fast as arms that are well -bent. "H ow can a vaulter increase the speed The use of this kind of action, therefore, with which he arrives at the board?" necessarily reduces the vaulter's stride There are, obviously, all kinds of frequency. In addition, the arms are suggestions that might be made in unable to adequately balance the leg response to that question . Let me make action and an exaggerated shoulder roll is just three: introduced to compensate. 1. The vaulter should use the "blocking" action at (c) A maximum run-up length possible for him. touchdown . This action, characterised by Research has shown that a runner needs a landing with the foot slightly forward 22 yards in order to reach 95% of his of the knee and first contact on (or near) maximum running speed.* This the heel, reduces both the stride length distance-and, remember this is a distance and the stride frequency. which permits the vaulter to obtain just 95% of his top speed-is slightly longer Hurdle The hurdle step serves as a transition than the maximum distance permitted under F.l.G. rules. Under such from the run -up to the take-off and as circumstances- it seems- only logical that such its main function is to pesition the-positi on -themseive s-fn~osiv e extension moments later, h is bod y is vaulters should endeavour to use as much body appropriately for t he land ing on t he board with a minimum loss in horizontal rotating forward and upwar d alco\l t h ~; distance as the rules permit . feet which are firmly "a nchorer3" on t he 2. The vaulter should measure his velocity. Since it is well -k nown that in run-up precisely to ensure his approach any running jump the increases in vertica l board . And , provided the leg f lc' x io n is speed is not impaired by his having to velocity necessary to gain height are not excessive, the center of gravi t y mr- .. c adjust his stride to hit the take-off inevitably accompanied by decreases in forward and upward throughout We i !Hr , correctly. horizontal velocity, the vaulter's need to have one good reason for k ec:p ing leg

flexion (and by this I mea n fl ex ion of t he arm s t h at are involved instead of the legs, hip, knee and ankle joints) to a minimum t he principles are the same. For ex ample, during the take-off . to obtain maximum lift the vaulter This brings me to the next factor-the should endeavor to touchdown on the change in vertical velocity during the horse at, or just before the peak of the take-off-and another reason for pre-flight phase-to make the vertical leg flex ion during the velocity at touchdown as favorable as mrnrmrsrng take-off. The change in a vaulter's vertical possible; he should "give" a little on velocity during the take-off is governed Âˇ landing, in order to cushion the impact ; by the magnitude of the vertical forces and he should drive up off the horse as which he exerts and by the time for soon after touchdown as he can-in order which they act. Or, in other words, by a to maximise the vertical forces exerted. quantity known as the vertical impulse (vertica l forces x t ime ). On the ba sis of Flight this, it would seem logical to suggest that This phase, which involves performing a vaulter seek ing to improve his lift from the more obviously demanding and the board shou ld strive to increase both spectacul ar part of the vault and t he n the magnitude of the vertical forces prepar ing to land, is one about which the which he exerts and the len gth of t ime facts are frequent ly obscured by fantasy . for which they act. Perhaps sur prising ly, In the f irst place, what is la id down by this is no t the case, for it has been shown t he F.l .G. as the ideal form is rare ly , if repeatedly in jumping act ivities that the ever, approached . Much of it is, in fact, shorter the time of take-off, the greater Phy s ic a lly impossible-actually in the vertical velocity at take-off. defiance of established physical laws. How can this be? Assuming no Secondly, movements which differ differences in the vertical ve loc ity at sign ificantly from the idea l are rewarded touchdown, this could only occur if by judges as if th ey deviated only somehow th e magnitude of the vert ica l minimally from that idea l. forces exerted were to increase as the Consider, the example, the ideal for time of take-off decreased-a nd at a the Yamashita vau lt as depicted in t he greater rate th an the time decreased. F .l.G. Code of Points. The form shown Although there has bee n only very not only differs cons iderably from th at limited discussion of the point relative to used by the man for whom the vau lt is jumping, it is known that a muscle or named (e.g. , Yamashita himself passed group of muscles will give their most through a_n erect handstand position forceful contraction if they are during the support phase) and fro m that stimulated a lm ost immediately after used by the world's top vaulters but is in being stretched. Thus, it migh t be argued, fact physically impossibl e (o r well -nigh that if the extensor muscles of th e legs so) on at least two counts : are stretched during the landing on the 1) The angular momentum necessary board and then immediately stimulated, - to _g et the . body from positio~ 4 to the resulting extension will be much more posrtron 5 rs vr rtually ze ro whrle that forceful than if this stimu lu s is delayed. need~d to get it from position 5 to Whether or not this exp lanation is posrtron 6-:-espe_crally rn such a brief entirely valid, two things are clear- (1) a rnt erv_a l of t_r me-rs qurte substantial. Such minimal fle x ion of the legs on landing va nat ron, rt shoul,d be noted, is in followed by an immediate extens ion d_efrance of Newtons 1st Law whi ch says results in a short take-off time and (2) a (rn part) that the_ angular momentum of short take-off time yields more vertica l an arrborne body rs constant. velocity at take -off than a longer one. 2) The am_oun: which the vaulter's . center of gravrty rs lrfted following the Pre-flight take-off from the hands is appro x imately Wrth both the trajectory of the the same as that by which a world-class vaulter 's center of gravity and the high jumper would e levate hi s center of magnitude of his angular momentu m gravity to clea r a bar set aro und 7 feet! All of which raises some more or less fixed by his actions at take-off there is little that th e vaulter can do during the serious questions concerning the purpose pre-flight to alter the outcome of the and value of the F.1.G . specifications of vault. the ideal form. Now, you may want to Support dismi ss such questions by sa ying that the The support phase is very like the F.l.G. figures are only intended to give a take-off phase in that it is here that the general idea of how a vault is to be vaulter must exert the forces necessary to performed and really no-one takes them give him the desired trajectory and all that seriously . If this is indeed the angular momentum in the next a irborne case, I would probably go along with phase . And, although this time it is the you-but only so far. I would stop short at the point where a vault included in the

F.l. G. Code of Points was not only impossi ble to perform but potentially dangerous to attempt-and there is at least one such vault. The vault I refer to is the hecht-forward somersault performed from either the neck or the croup . To perform this vault as depicted by the F .l.G .-or, indeed, to perform it at all-is utterly im possib le, for it requires a vaulter to leave the horse with his body rotating backwards as in a normal hecht and then to tuck and execute a forward somersault during the flight. Now, it doesn't take much experience or background knowledge to recognize that this is quite impossible. Moreover, it doesn't take much imagination to realize that any vaulter who attempted such a feat wou ld be exposing himself to the possibility of serious injury. I would suggest therefore that the very least you should do is approach the contents of the F .l.G. Code of Points with considerable caution-there are portions of that document which might qua lify it as a work of fiction . Landing The purpose of the landing is to reduce the vaulter's linear and angu lar motions to zero on first contact with the landing mat (i.e ., without using additional ste ps) . While this is a relatively simple task from a mechanical standpoint, in practice it is often very difficult. Th is is primari ly due to the fact that the nature of the landing is inevitably effected by all that has gone before it . Thus apparently minor deviations from the desired form in the early phases of the vault can effectively "add-u p" to produce major problems in the land ing . Conclusion In conclusion, it is my belief that researchers and coaches have much to learn from each othe r. Researchers often work very hard on studies that are no earthly use simply because they have not been able to inte ract with coaches and get acqua in ted with the real prob le ms . Coaches often use methods which have been shown to be inferior simply because they have not been able t o interact with researchers and get acquainted w ith what resea rch has found to date. Both groups blame the other for this state of affairs. Worse yet, neither group has made as strong an effort as it should to remedy the situation. I would therefore congratulate your organization for taking the initiative and . organizing this session, and I would urge you to continue working in this direction for the ultimate benefit of gymnastics.

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